January 19, 2018

Back in November, the Army Special Forces of the Philippines posted a short film on the war in Marawi. It showed the soldiers in action as they fought off terrorists, and it was shot in first-person by another army man. Turns out, he was using a GoPro that was lent by Anne Curtis.

In a Facebook post, Anne shared that she met first lieutenant Bala Tamayo of the Special Forces during her Buy Busttraining in Fort Magsaysay. She recounted how he became a friend to her and the rest of the film team. “Shortly after [meeting him,] we learned that the troops were to go fight the war in Marawi. We somewhat kept in touch—which was great because we knew exactly what the soldiers needed during such a harsh time and sent over care packages to somehow boost their morale,” she wrote.

Anne then thought of putting her GoPro with the care package since she knew Bala does shorts for the Special Forces. “His request to tell the story and experience the Marawi Siege from the boots of a soldier could not be left ungranted,” she said. A few months later, her GoPro was returned and she shared Bala’s short documentary.